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Operation Starlight
The Case of the Secret Inquisitors is the eighth and final short story in the fifth anthology of Biggles Air Police short stories which is entitled Biggles' Chinese Puzzle. The anthology was first published in May, 1955 by Brockhampton. In the anthology, this story is preceded by The Case of the Secret Inquisitors. Synopsis Biggles and co. investigate the multiple instances of aircraft being used to transport contraband and personnel to and from the the continent. At stake is the continued existence of the Air Police and the career of their chief, Air Commodore Raymond. Plot (Click on expand to read) The Air Police and Air Commodore Raymond are severely criticised for failing in their duty. Customs had complained of multiple instances of illegal movements of diamonds, furs and drugs. The Currency Control Commission had also reported unauthorized transfer of moeny to and from the continent. Security Intelligence also believed enemy agents where being inserted by air. Radar had been detecting unidentified aircraft entering and leaving by night. Despite the difficulties, the Air Police crew must act quickly. Their continued existence and the career of their chief, Raymond, is at stake. After a week of fruitless patrols, Biggles and co., in an Auster, managed to track an unidentified helicopter flying to Brandon Heath. Biggles, Ginger and Bertie parachute down after it and arrest the pilot and passengers plus a load of smuggled watches. The pilot turns out to be an ex-R.A.F. officer, down and out after being dismissed for smuggling. Biggles sets up a trap. Algy poses as a pilot who has been dismissed for improper conduct. He is promptly employed and soon reports back that he had a mission to fly a Puss Moth with a passenger to Beauvais in France. Partway through his flight, Algy fakes engine trouble and lands near Brighton. Biggles and the others are waiting and arrest the passenger, a wanted jewel thief known to Gaskin as Carlos the Cat. Ginger takes over as the pilot. Biggles empties the case of stolen jewelry and now poses as Carlos and they continue the flight to Beauvais. At Beauvais, Biggles is met by a gang of men led by one Alex. He seizes Biggles' bag of jewels at gunpoint and hands Ginger a package intended for the return journey (that turns out to be currency notes and a bomb). Alex, however, doesn't get very far as Marcel turns up by prearrangement and arrests the gang. Biggles is puzzled that the illegal transport operation would double-cross its customers and so risk its clientele drying up as word got around. Ginger and Biggles flies the Puss Moth back to the base, which Algy had told them was a farm on the south side of Ashdown Forest. They land at the farmhouse without trouble and arrest the occupant. He turns out to be another down and out R.A.F. officer Group Captain Braille. Braille confesses everything to the police. He reveals that he works for a Swiss boss named Luftmann who could be summoned by a prearranged code sent by telegraph. The needed signal was sent, Luftmann turned up at the farmhouse later and was also arrested. Luftmann's gang had also clashed with a rival gang led by an ex-employee named Alex, but he had already been arrested. Braille also shares his belief that a third operation at work moving personnel. He said that Luftmann's pilots had reported near collisions with another unlighted aircraft, for example on the sands of The Wash at low tide. Biggles sets up a trap for this aircraft at The Wash but the plane attempts to escape and crashes and burns. This puts an end to the third smuggling operation but leaves Biggles dissatisfied as he never learns the identity of the aircraft or its occupants. Characters The Special Air Police/Scotland Yard *Air Commodore Raymond *Biggles *Algy Lacey *Ginger Hebblethwaite *Bertie Lissie *Gaskin Others *Marcel Brissac *Carlo the Cat *Alex *Group Captain Brail *Luftmann Aircraft *Auster J1 Autocrat *De Havilland Puss Moth *Unidentified helicopter Places Visited *Brandon Heath, near Brandon, Suffolk *Farmhouse on the southern fringe of Ashdown Forest, Sussex *Forest Row, Ashdown Forest, Sussex *Golf course on the downs, northwest of Brighton *Sands of the Wash *Beauvais, France Mentioned Research Notes References to the past Incongruities Chronology References Category:Biggles short stories Category:Short stories Category:Air Police era short stories